GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Northeastern Wisconsin theater groups have been having a blast with the musical “Mamma Mia!”
The hit-packed show by ABBA keeps area talent singing and dancing up a storm.
It’s a kind of phenomenon.
The show is big, elaborate and costly – and everybody does it differently.
First in the activity in the region, thousands of people saw pros do “Mamma Mia!” in 2017 in a touring production that visited Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton.
Local versions – not counting high school productions – started with the Birder Players in its Broadway Theatre in De Pere.
That show was such a hit with hometown pros Randi Fay and Anna Lissa Bakken as mother and daughter that Birder Players repeated the show all over again two years later.
In Chilton, Calumet County Community Theatre went big on visuals.
The lighting displays added to the excitement that’s there in the first place in the songs.
In Manitowoc, The Masquers, Inc. version included sizzling singing and a cartwheeling singer/dancer, Alexa Malley as Sophie.
The production also helped celebrate upgrades in Capitol Civic Centre.
In Marinette, Theatre on the Bay had extra challenges in an opening night storm that cut power, with final numbers completed with the help of the audience’s cell phone flashlights.
In a leading role of Sophie, Jacqueline Nutter fit the role of the daughter like a glove.
Fond du Lac Community Theatre just finished an elaborate production with a big and eager cast.
Costuming was on the grand and grandiose side, as in all of the productions.
In Green Bay, Let Me Be Frank Productions created a version of its own called “Menoma Mia,” splicing in even more hit songs.
That show worked so well, including on the road, that Let Me Be Frank Productions is coming back with another version. “Menoma Mia: Here We Go Again” starts July 22 at the Meyer Theatre in Green Bay, with a run out performance July 27 at Capitol Civic Centre in Manitowoc.
And keep your eye out for coming ABBA tribute shows in the region.
